Louis Crompton was Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Nebraska. Co-founder of the Gay and Lesbian Caucus of the Modern Language Association, he authored the highly acclaimed Byron and Greek Love, and Homosexuality and Civilization,among numerous other works. He died on July 11, 2009.

The most notable law reformer in the English-speaking world, English philosopher, jurist, economist, and political scientist Jeremy Bentham argued for a tolerant attitude toward homosexuality in a series of papers first published in full in 1985.